From November 15 to December 8, 1999 a civil trial was held in Memphis, Tennessee. The plaintiffs were Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King III, Bernice King, Dexter Scott King, and Yolanda King. The defendants were Loyd Jowers and “other unnamed co-conspirators.” You can read a transcript of the entire trial here. Loyd Jowers was accused of being part of a conspiracy to kill Martin Luther King, Jr. That crime occurred 45 years ago today. Mr. Jowers had already confessed to his small part in the conspiracy to Sam Donaldson and to Dexter Scott King and Andrew Young. However, he feared criminal liability and changed his story. His lawyer didn’t really contest that a conspiracy existed. The stakes were quite low. The King family was only seeking $100 in wrongful death damages. Instead, his lawyer merely stated that his client had a small role, was repentant, in ill health, and undeserving of a guilty verdict.
Because Jowers wasn’t really contesting his role in the murder, the defense in this civil case was not exactly rigorous. Nonetheless, the evidence advanced was compelling. The defendant had fingered Memphis police officer Lieutenant Earl Clark as the man who shot Martin Luther King, Jr. Jowers had concealed the rifle until it was picked up by another man and disposed of in the Mississippi River.
You will still hear today that James Earl Ray murdered Martin Luther King, Jr. Maybe he did. But a jury of six whites and six blacks ruled unanimously that Loyd Jowers was guilty of taking part in a conspiracy to kill King, and that it was a “conspiracy involving the Memphis police as well as federal agencies.”
You can read the transcript of the trial if you are curious. I’d strongly advise you to read a lot of it before you dismiss the jury’s findings.
